Fire extinguisher



E. J. SMITH AND H. V; GLOS.

FIRE EXTlNGUlSHE-R. APPLICATION FILED 1-18.26, 1919.

Patented Mar. 7, 1922.

,Zium j fiW/ Jg Zara f UNITED STATES PATENT ounce.

EARL smrn AND HAROLD v. once, or CHICAGO, rtmnoishssrenons rotmmn.WRITERS LABORATORIES, Inc, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLI-NOIS.

FIRE nx'rmeulsiinn.

Specification of Letters l 'atent; Patent d M .7 1922 Application fieldFebruary 26,,l9 l 9. Serial No. 279,420.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EARL J. SMITH and HAROLD V. Gnos, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in FireExtinguishers, of. which the following is a specification. 7 p g Thisinvention relates to fire extinguishers having a tankadapted to containan alkaline solution and a bottle or other container adapted to containan acid, the apparatus being designed to be inverted when, desired foractive use; in such event the acid dis "charges into the solution of thetank and generates a pressure sufficient to e ect the solution through asuitable hose and nozzle.

These extinguishers must of course, be refilled after thecontents hasbeen discharged and whetherdischarged or notthe contents should berenewed periodically to insure efficient operation It is common practiceto supportthe acid container, in a cage within the tank, and the ob ectof the invention 1s to improve the cageand associated parts so as tosimplify the operation of inserting and removing the acid container intoand from the cage and to insure the proper positioning of the acidcontainer when the various parts'of the extinguisher are assembled.

We'accornplish our object by themechanism illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which Figure 1 ,isa side elevation oftheextinguisher, the tank and cap section.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the container and cage, the latter beingshown in vertical section. This view illustrates the co-action. oftlieparts during the act of inbeing shown in ,troducingor removing the acidcontainer.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the cage proper,

' Figure 4 is a perspective view of the ring which forms part of thecage and cooperates with it to retain the acid container.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective showing a modified form of lug forretaining the bottom of the acid container. i

Like reference numerals refer to' like parts throughout the differentfigures.

Referring to the drawings, the tank 1 has a screw cap 2, and this caphas a ring 3 at the top which forms a base for the apparatus wheninverted. These parts all conform capefrom the container.

to present practice. In the form selected to illustrate the inventionthe cage has va flanged ring the top which fits within the nouth of thetank, the horizontal flange resting upon internal; lugsl in such mannerthat when the cap is screwed down the ring willbe loosely heldinfposition. Depending from the ring, 4 are bars 5,5 carryingcross bars6, 6 at thevlower end, these cross bars forming a seat for thejacidcontainer'i'. 'llhe number of dep'en'ding' bars is immater al exceptthat the cage is open at one side to adnnt the acidfcontainer into thecage.

In the present design. there are three of these bars; located 90 iapart.At the fourth or open side of the container a lug8 rises from the end ofoneof the cross bars, the purpose of the lug being-to confine the lowerend of'the acid container laterally, andprevent 1t from slipp ngsidewise from its seat. Near the top of the cage are pins 9,9 whichent'end; radially inward. They are here 'shown to be three'in number,one for each of the bars 5. .The purpose ofthese bars ,is'to' looselyconfine and guide the ring 12 which is here shown inthe form of a hollowlcyllnder with its axis coincident with the axisof the cage, and havingvertical slots 13 through which thepinQ projects The slots alsoconstitute openings through' which, the acid may escape intothe interiorof the tank when the device is in service.

The acid container is bottle shaped,'having a convex annular shoulder15. The parts are so proportioned that when assembled, as shown inFigure 1, thelower rim of the cylinder will engagefshoulder 15 of theacid container and loosely hold the container seated upon the cros'sbars 6, but will also hold the upper end of the container againstexcessive lateral movement. The upper end of the ring will be held downin place by the cap 2. A stopper 16 is provided for the container, saidstopper having 1 ice and is turned upsidedown the ring 12 end of thecontainer.

and cage have thus been assembled they are somewhat smaller than theinternal diameter of the ring 4, as a result of which the ring 12 may betilted in the cage as well as moved vertically prior to the finalassemblage of the parts and the screwing down of the cap'onto the tank.

Operation; Let it be assumed that the tank has received the properamount of alkaline solution and that the acid container has received theproper amount of acid. The operator, under ordinary circumstances, willgrasp the cage in one hand, and the acid container in the other and willthen proceed to introduce the containerby slipping the neck of thebottle up into the bottom of the ring 12, the container being tilted forthe purpose and causing the ring to tilt as illustrated in Figure 2.\Vhen the container has bene lifted high enough to permit the bottom toclear the top of the lug 8, it is swung over and lowered ontothecross-bars 6. The lug 8, being placed equi-distantly from the twonearest bars 5, will of course retain the bottom of the acid containerso long as the latterremains seated. By the term seated is not meantnecessarily a state of actual contact between the bottom of thecontainerand the cross-bars of the cage, as the container may forpractical purposes be regarded as seated so long as it remains nearenough to the cross-bars 'to prevent it from escaping laterally past thelug 8. Then the container has become seated the ring 12 willstandvertically and its own weight and the fact that it is surrounded byring 4: and held on three sides by the bars 5 enable it to prevent theupper end of the container from swinging out through the open side ofthe cage. Hence as long as the container remains seated it will besecure in the cage and consequently the cage and ;'container may behandled without much care and yet incur no risk of the containerescaping from the cage. In

' fact, the cylindrical ring 12 may itself be regarded aS an auxiliarycage for the upper I'Vhen the container lowered into the tank 1 untilthe horizontal flange of the/ring a rests upon the lugs 1 at themouth ofthe tank. The cap 2 is then through the open side of the cage. When theextinguisher is required for active servsupports the acid container andholds its mouth far enough away from the cap 2 to permit the contents tobe discharged into the solution surrounding it.

At this time the stopper 16 drops into contact with cap 2 but the stem17 is long enough to remain within the mouth of the bottle so that'thestopper will drop back into position to close the container at any timethe extinguisher is returned to normal upright non-acting position. As aresult of this construction the insertion and removal of the acidcontainer into and from the cage becomes a most simple matter. The ring12 tilts readily and easily accommodates itself to the various positionsof the container during the action of insertion or withdrawal. When thecontainer is once in place it is automatically locked there and noordinary shaking or tilting will cause it to come out. No latches orlooking devices of any kind need be manipulated by hand and no setscrews or springs employed.

ing or retaining mechanism is manipulated not directly by the hand ofthe operator, but through the medium of the acid container. In thissense the operation is automatic for the ring 12 not only accommodatesitself to the various positions of the acid container but automaticallymoves to acting position as soon as the container is seated.

While the lug 8, shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 is adequate for allordinary purposes and has the advantage of being readily fabricated, itmay be of any desired width even to a complete ring 8 as shown in Figure5. In the latter case the ring completely surrounds thebottom of theacid container but may nevertheless be regarded as coming within thesame category.

Having thus described the invention what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a fire extinguisher, a tank having a cap, an acid container, acage for the container having an opening in the side'large enough toadmit it and having a In at the bottom for retaining the bottom 0 theacid container when the latter is in place in the cage, and a retainerfor laterally confining the top of the acid container, said retainerbeing loosely connected to the cage whereby it may yield upwardand alsotilt sideways to permit the container to pass over the lug while thecontainer is being inserted, the retainer being approximately ofsufiicient length to simultaneously engage the container and the capwhen the parts are assembled.

2. A, fire extinguisher having a tank provided with a cap, an acidcontainer, a cage for the container having an opening in the side largeenough to admit it, and having a lug at thebottom for retaining thebottom of the acid retainer when the latter is in place in the cage, anda retainer loosel connected to the cage whereby the aci con- One of thenotable. characteristics of the device is that the locktainer may yieldupward and also tilt sideways to permit the container to pass up overthe lug while being inserted, the acid container having a roundedshoulder and the retainer having a circular'lower rim adapted to engagethe rounded shoulder of the acid container, the retainer beingsubstantially of such length as to simultaneously engage both theshoulder of the acid container and the cap of the tank.

3. A fire extinguisher adapted to be inverted when in active servicehaving a tank, a cap therefor, a bottle-shaped acid container, a cagefor said acid container adapted to be suspended in the mouth of thetank, said cage being open at one side for admitting the acid container,means for laterally confining the bottom of the acid container when thelatter is seated in the cage, a hollow cylinder adapted to engage theshoulder of the acid container for both confining it laterally andsupporting it When the device is inverted, said cylinder being.

for loosely confining the cylinder within the cage and permitting it toaccommodate itself to various positions of the acid container when thelatter is being introduced into the cage.

4:. A structure as specified in claim 3 in which the cylinder is locatedentirely within the cage and is vertically slotted and the cage has pinsprojecting radially inward through said slots to loosely confine thecylinder and permit it to tilt as well as to move lengthwise of thecage.

, In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names.

EARL J. SMITH. HAROLD V. GLOS.

